Page 9 of Risky Fight

Then, just as I start to get bored and think I did imagine it, I catch a fleeting shadow out of the corner of my eye. Without hesitation, I lunge forward, ready to hit my intruder with a right hook. But as I punch into the darkness, my hand finds nothing but empty air. Nothing — there is no one there to take the force of my punch.

“I fucking know you’re in here. Either come out or I’ll set off the fire alarm and the whole building will be awake and crawling with cops and firefighters.” Deathly silence, there’s not a sound as I hold my breath and listen. He has to breathe, hopefully before I do.

He is nowhere and everywhere, leaving me standing here, holding my breath, defeated.

The realization of how insane my recklessness is, sinks in and fear finally breaks through my facade of bravery. This is crazy — there is an intruder in my home after my brothers were attacked. My foolishness could cost me everything. I need to get out of here before it’s too late and I can’t.

The darkness closes in around me, and the fear I tried to suppress finally takes hold.

Without another moment’s hesitation, I turn on my heels, my bare feet almost silent on the hard floor as I sprint towards the front door. The only exit.

Panic and adrenaline fuel my every move, and I curse myself for being a fucking idiot. Why am I like this? I saw what my brothers looked like after facing whoever is after them — and now probably me. I am going to knock their heads together.

But just as I get to the door, a strong muscular arm wraps around my waist, pulling me back with a force I can’t escape. I’m strong, but I am small — and he isn’t. I struggle against my captor, kicking, biting, and scratching. The more I writhe and try to get away the tighter he grips me, my breaths coming out in gasps, but it’s futile. He’s too strong. He can’t even feel me hitting him.

And then, as my assailant turns me around to face him, the dim light reveals his face.

Roark.

The cowardly bastard who left me in the dust, chasing fame and fortune, leaving me behind like it meant nothing. My heart sinks, and anger simmers beneath my fear. I have no plan for this. I thought I would never see him again in my life. It completely disarms me seeing him. Here. In my home — holding me. It’s him who has been watching me.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I manage to choke out, his grip squeezing the air out of my lungs. I hear the way my voice trembles with a mix of emotions.

He smirks, that infuriating smirk I remember all too well. “Surprised to see me, Lou?” Surprised isn’t the word I would choose, but it works. The shock wears off slowly, and then the rage settles in. He is back. The fucking bastard. I try to break free from his grasp, ducking and kicking him in the shin, but he tightens his hold on me.

“Let go of me, Roark. What do you want?” I growl, as the five years of anger bubble to the surface.

His grip softens slightly, but the smugness in his eyes remains. “I came back for you, Lou. I realized I made a mistake, leaving you behind. You don’t seem happy to see me though.” Happy? Is he crazy? He must have taken too many hits to his head, that he thinks he can come back and just pick up from where we were. I am not that stupid, naive, or easy.

My eyes narrow in disbelief, the rage within me boiling over. “You expect me to be happy?” I laugh in his face. “You left me behind Roark, without even saying goodbye. You went and lived our dreams without me. I never wanted to see you ever again. No. I am not happy.” I glare at him, he still looks the same. Not aged a day, only a few new scars on his pretty face show he has been fighting for his food. “I hate you Roark, so save yourself some time and effort and leave. Your apology is not accepted.”

He sighs, attempting to appear remorseful, but it only fuels my frustration. “I’m not apologizing, I am not sorry for chasing my dreams. For being a success. What did you do with your life Lou?” The fucking nerve, how dare he?

I shake my head, refusing to take his shit. He left. What was I supposed to do. “You can’t just waltz back into my life judging me. You don’t get to judge. You ran away, you left me, remember? I moved on with my life the best I could. Not all of us have golden gloves and money to buy houses in Hollywood.”

He reaches out to touch my cheek, and I recoil, both from his touch and from the memories flooding back. “Please, Lou. I might have left, but you were never meant to stay here. This is sad, your whole life is sad, I have been watching you.” I knew it, I should have said something.

My heart wavers, torn between the pain of the past and the impossible desire to kill him right now. No one knows he is here, they’d never know he was gone. But I can’t let him break me again. If I react he wins, and I am not a loser. Even if I am still exactly where he left me.

I push him away and take a step back.

“You need to leave, Roark. You left me once, and you’ll do it again. Right fucking now, however you got in here, get the fuck out.” I am getting angrier by the minute. But then I see a flash of something in his eyes, it’s a dark look I have never been before. That isn’t the boy who left me, it’s a dangerous man. He’s not here for lost love, he is here for something darker than that, and my intuition says run.

I turn and run, not looking back, desperate to escape the clutches of my past once and for all. I get the door open and launch into a sprint out into the darkness. I can feel his eyes on me. He is chasing me, but I won’t let him catch me again. I’m faster than him, and I know my way around the dark alleys and shady corners of the city.

Chapter6 - Roark

Having zero fucks to give has tipped me over the edge of sanity — the more I watched Lou, the harder it got to stay away. She bolted out the front door, I should just let her go. I didn’t come here with any sort of plan, I just wanted to see her.Really see her. Up close so I could know for sure that she was still in there, that this place hadn’t crushed her soul.

As I jump off the bottom of the fire escape, knowing exactly which way she will run, I start off after her down the back alley towards where the council housing estate borders the bad edge of town. I love this game. I used to chase her around my house and pin her up against the wall before I fucked her.

Seeing her, being so fucking close, I could smell her when I held her against me and she still smells the same — all of it set something feral off inside me. This need to catch her, to get to her — to fucking have her. Silence her cheeky fucking backtalk with a kiss. Why is Lou still so infuriatingly sexy? My strides are twice hers, and I am gaining on her, but she is nimble and I am not.

I can see her as she bobs and weaves through the dumpsters behind the pub, slipping through small gaps trying to get away from me. She thinks I am going to let her escape. Not a chance. I have had a taste of her, one touch was all it took. Lou ismine— she always will be. I just have to remind her of that fact. To do that I have to catch the slippery little mouse, and I am enjoying the chase more than I should.

My heart rate ticks upward, as my feet pound the uneven asphalt of the dark back alley. Smells from the back end of takeaway kitchens and the rancid stink of overfull dumpsters hover in the air, trapped by the day’s heat. Sweat clings to my body like a film of stickiness. When I see her take the steps to the roof of a building up ahead I know where she is going end up and I can beat her there. Silly Lou, we were kids in these same streets, I know all the tricks.

Scaling the wire fence at the end of the alleyway, I take the fire escape steps three at a time, determined to get up to the roof before Lou makes the jump from the building next door. We used to jump across here to escape the cops when we were a bunch of hooligan teens doing things we shouldn’t do.